MARIN: SNC-Lavalin affair makes PM look like a hypocrite to China

It’s a well-known fact that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a fan of China.

He loves the dictatorship form of government.

At a 2013 round table he foolishly said: “There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China. Their basic dictatorship is actually allowing them to turn their economy around on a dime.”

China’s communist regime also allows them to meddle in the courts as they please.

Now comes the bombshell revelation in the Globe and Mail that Trudeau’s office tried to lean on his former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to defer the prosecution of Liberal friendly SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. in favour of a remedial agreement such as paying a fine after admitting culpability.

When Wilson-Raybould didn’t budge, she got demoted. There were a lot of whispers at the time that the reason was she was hard to get along with. But now we know the real reason. She told Trudeau cronies to get lost.

There were other clues as well that something bigger was up.

A news source reported: “Some who spoke on background said she could be dismissive and quick to leap to confrontation when a more constructive approach to policy differences might have been employed.”

Translation: she didn’t take orders from Trudeau’s lackeys.

There are so many things wrong on so many levels that it’s hard to list them all.

First, the Public Prosecution Service is a relatively new creature of government to shelter prosecutors from politicians. It was created in 2006. Federal prosecutions used to be conducted by the Department of Justice. What Trudeau’s gang tried to do runs against the very constitution of the PPS.

Second, we have the rule of law which holds that everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to due process.

Third, unlike other ministers, the Attorney General occupies a very unique position in cabinet as the Chief law officer of the Executive Council. It is “judicial-like” and guardian of the public interest. She’s not supposed to be reduced to a puppet of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Having attempted to make an end run on the prosecution and tampering with the rule of law, Trudeau, who fancies himself as “Mr. Transparency,” ought to have done some fessing-up. When asked if he or his office tried to influence Wilson-Raybould, we got a robotic and repetitive answer that neither he nor his office directed the minister to take a particular position on the case.

Trudeau turtled and ducked the question.

The stakes in the case are huge. If SNC-Lavalin, who’ve generously contributed to Liberal coffers got convicted, they would automatically be barred for bidding on public projects for 10 years representing billions of dollars as the government is rolling out $186.7 billion of infrastructure investments.

A man walks past SNC-Lavalin headquarters in Montreal on Nov. 6, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

Guess where SNC has thousands of jobs? In Trudeau’s riding of Papineau of course.

That Wilson-Raybould kept her powder dry and did not comment following the Globe’s story speaks volume.

Trudeau’s attempt to meddle in our criminal justice system now gives China more ammunition in the extradition case of top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou who is currently under house arrest. Furious Chinese officials have called on Trudeau to intervene in the prosecution and cut her loose.

Trudeau in return pontificated to the Chinese on the separation of powers and that we have the rule of law in Canada.

I’m sure the lawyers for Meng are taking notice of the hypocrisy. Expect Trudeau’s actions to bite him in the rear end in an already messy international saga.